Your Rights As a Pregnant or Parenting Teen

IF YOU THINK YOU MAY BE PREGNANT

• You have the right to confidential pregnancy testing. No one can tell your parents or anyone else about the results unless you say it’s okay.
• No one can force you to take a pregnancy test, an STI test, or an HIV test without your permission.

IF YOU ARE PREGNANT

• You have the right to stay in school. You cannot be forced to transfer to an alternative school, a special school for pregnant students, or a GED program.
• You have the right to take time off from school for prenatal visits, childbirth, abortion care, and other health reasons related to pregnancy.
• You have the right to receive educational support during the time you take off from school, and you must be allowed to pick up where you left off when you return.
• You have the right to decide on your own what to do about your pregnancy.
• You can decide to have an abortion, continue with the pregnancy, or make an adoption plan. No one can force your decision.
• You have the right to consent to all health care that affects your pregnancy and childbirth. You don’t need your parents’ or anyone else’s permission.

IF YOU HAVE A CHILD

• You have the right to consent on your own to all health care for you and your child.
• You have the right to keep your child with you and make decisions about your child’s upbringing, except in extraordinary cases like abuse or neglect of the child.
• You have the right to a lawyer if you are accused of abusing or neglecting your child and have to go to Family Court.

FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS

If you feel your rights are being violated or you are being treated unfairly in school because you are pregnant or parenting, contact the New York Civil Liberties Union.

• Phone 212-607-3300
• Email schools@nyclu.org

This KYR is not a replacement for legal advice.